Broiler Hatchery ISSN: 1949-1840 Released December 22, 2010, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Broiler-Type Eggs Set Down Slightly Commercial hatcheries in the 19 State weekly program set 204 million eggs in incubators during the week ending December 18, 2010. This was down slightly from the eggs set the corresponding week a year earlier. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week was 84 percent. Average hatchability is calculated by dividing chicks hatched during the week by eggs set three weeks earlier. Broiler-Type Chicks Placed Up 1 Percent Broiler growers in the 19 State weekly program placed 170 million chicks for meat production during the week ending December 18, 2010. Placements were up 1 percent from the comparable week a year earlier. Cumulative placements from January 3, 2010 through December 18, 2010 were 8.46 billion, up 2 percent from the same period a year earlier. Broiler-Type Eggs Set - 19 Selected States: 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :November 13, :November 20, :November 27, : December 4, :December 11, :December 18, : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 eggs : Alabama ......................: 29,397 29,358 30,049 29,501 29,788 29,994 Arkansas .....................: 23,436 23,072 22,822 23,007 23,197 23,072 Delaware .....................: 4,045 4,004 4,216 4,150 4,181 4,090 Florida ......................: 1,235 1,360 1,359 1,360 1,310 1,236 Georgia ......................: 32,651 33,066 33,041 33,477 33,031 33,461 Kentucky .....................: 7,704 7,558 7,680 7,184 7,625 7,128 Louisiana ....................: 3,486 3,470 3,395 3,395 3,364 3,425 Maryland .....................: 7,399 7,587 7,276 7,291 7,661 7,653 Mississippi ..................: 18,232 18,477 18,675 18,346 18,727 17,903 North Carolina ...............: 20,449 20,437 20,311 19,702 19,874 19,933 : Oklahoma .....................: 6,540 6,281 6,463 6,211 6,307 6,437 Pennsylvania .................: 3,788 3,957 3,876 3,959 4,050 3,959 South Carolina ...............: 5,535 5,617 5,726 5,432 5,587 5,585 Texas ........................: 15,687 15,910 16,523 15,272 15,698 15,745 Virginia .....................: 5,305 5,999 5,934 5,943 5,951 5,655 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 18,940 19,212 19,511 18,637 19,113 18,935 : 19 State total ...............: 203,829 205,365 206,857 202,867 205,464 204,211 : Previous year total ..........: 201,573 201,906 202,644 201,274 205,271 204,677 : Percent of previous year .....: 101 102 102 101 100 100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Broiler-Type Chicks Placed - 19 Selected States: 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Week ending State :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :November 13, :November 20, :November 27, : December 4, :December 11, :December 18, : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 : 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : 1,000 chicks : Alabama ......................: 20,394 20,245 19,051 19,825 20,107 21,107 Arkansas .....................: 20,001 20,489 21,461 20,162 21,159 20,771 Delaware .....................: 5,102 4,738 5,116 4,967 5,663 4,452 Florida ......................: 1,222 1,207 1,334 1,219 1,207 1,183 Georgia ......................: 25,363 24,284 26,705 27,178 27,160 27,692 Kentucky .....................: 6,196 5,890 5,804 5,981 6,624 6,355 Louisiana ....................: 2,986 2,985 2,906 3,057 3,022 3,012 Maryland .....................: 5,712 6,285 5,450 6,364 5,145 6,745 Mississippi ..................: 15,738 15,118 15,936 15,713 16,160 16,301 North Carolina ...............: 15,375 15,927 16,274 15,476 15,943 16,236 : Oklahoma .....................: 5,296 4,480 3,514 4,975 3,310 4,543 Pennsylvania .................: 2,835 2,935 3,151 3,081 3,180 3,175 South Carolina ...............: 5,089 5,044 4,496 4,599 4,656 4,117 Texas ........................: 12,745 13,442 12,651 13,339 13,588 14,021 Virginia .....................: 4,735 5,184 4,970 4,376 5,249 4,355 California, Missouri, : Tennessee, and West Virginia : 15,532 16,258 16,069 17,967 16,877 15,733 : 19 State total ...............: 164,321 164,511 164,888 168,279 169,050 169,798 : Previous year total ..........: 156,298 151,209 158,544 166,323 167,012 168,345 : Percent of previous year .....: 105 109 104 101 101 101 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statistical Methodology Survey Procedures: Data for broiler hatchery estimates are collected from all known chicken hatcheries within the 19 States. The 19 States account for approximately 97 percent of the broilers produced on an annual basis. Individual NASS field offices maintain a list of all known hatcheries and update their lists on a continual basis. All known hatcheries within the 19 States respond via fax. Those that do not respond are contacted by telephone. Estimating Procedures: All data are analyzed for unusual values. Data from each operation are compared to their own past operating profile and to trends from similar operations. All hatcheries are accounted for in the estimates. Data for missing operations are estimated based on similar operations or historical data. NASS field offices prepare these estimates by using a combination of survey indications and historic trends. Individual State estimates are reviewed by the Agricultural Statistics Board for reasonableness. Individual hatchery data are summed to State and 19 State totals. Revision Policy: Revisions are generally the result of late or corrected data. Revisions made to the previous five-week's data during the current week are published in this report. Final estimates are published in the annual Hatchery Production Summary released in April. Reliability: Hatchery estimates are based on a census of all known operating hatcheries and therefore, have no sampling error. However, estimates are subject to errors such as omission, duplication, and mistakes in reporting, recording, and processing the data. While these errors cannot be measured directly, they are minimized through strict quality controls in the data collection process and a careful review of all reported data for consistency and reasonableness. Information Contacts Listed below are the commodity specialists in the Livestock Branch of the National Agricultural Statistics Service to contact for additional information. E-mail inquiries may be sent to nass@nass.usda.gov Dan Kerestes, Chief, Livestock Branch .......................................... (202) 720-3570 Bruce Boess, Head, Poultry and Specialty Commodities Section ................... (202) 720-4447 Doug Bounds - Poultry Slaughter, Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised ............ (202) 690-3237 David Colwell - Cold Storage ................................................ (202) 720-8784 Chris Hawthorn - Catfish Processing, Catfish Production, Trout Production, Census of Aquaculture, Egg Products, Mink .. (202) 720-0585 Kim Linonis - Layers, Eggs .................................................. (202) 690-8632 Troy Marshall - Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery, Honey ................... (202) 720-3244 Access to NASS Reports For your convenience, you may access NASS reports and products the following ways: All reports are available electronically, at no cost, on the NASS web site: http://www.nass.usda.gov Both national and state specific reports are available via a free e- mail subscription. 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